Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 12/17/2025 has been entered.
Claims 1, 3-9, and 11-13 are amended.
Claims 1-13 are currently pending consideration.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-13 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-5, 7, 8, and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Deghel et al. (US 2025/0056540 A1).
4. Regarding claims 1 and 12, Deghel teaches a method (Fig. 3 and 8, Paragraph [0029]), the method comprising:
receiving information for N reference signals for uplink transmission (Fig. 3 and 8, receive first and second uplink configurations; two overlapping uplink transmissions); and
based on the N reference signals being grouped into M pairs of reference signals, performing the uplink transmission by mapping a pair of reference signals to a transmission occasion (Fig. 3 Paragraphs [0108] to [0111] and [0141] to [0143] pairs of uplink transmissions),
wherein N and M are integers, and M is less than N, wherein the M pairs of reference signals are grouped based on at least one of a type of configuration or indication for a reference signal, and order in which a reference signal is configured or indicated, or an index related to a reference signal (Paragraphs [0108] to [0111] and [0141] to [0143] pairs of uplink transmissions/ M is less than N, simultaneous transmissions from two UE panels).
5. Regarding claim 2, Deghel teaches wherein the type includes a first type related to an uplink transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state and a second type related to spatial relation info (Paragraph [0111] uplink TCI state; spatial relation info).
6. Regarding claim 3, Deghel teaches wherein M pairs of reference signals are grouped by prioritizing the first type over the second type (Fig.3, Paragraph [0129] and [0130] determine whether overlapping uplink transmissions and determine uplink configurations).
7. Regarding claim 4, Deghel teaches wherein the N reference signals includes a plurality of reference signals corresponding to the same type (Fig.3, Paragraph [0129] and [0130] determine whether overlapping uplink transmissions in frequency domain or time domain and determine uplink configurations).
8. Regarding claim 5, Deghel teaches wherein the M pairs of reference signals are grouped according to an order in which the plurality of reference signals are indicated (Paragraphs [0108] to [0111], [0129], [0130] and [0141] to [0143] pairs of uplink transmissions/ M is less than N, simultaneous transmissions from two UE panels).
9. Regarding claim 7, Deghel teaches wherein the pair of reference signals is simultaneously applied for the uplink transmission in the transmission occasion (Fig.3, Paragraph [0108] to [0111], [0129] and [0130] determine whether overlapping uplink transmissions and determine uplink configurations).
10. Regarding claim 8, Deghel teaches
wherein capability information related to simultaneous application of the pair of reference signals is reported to a network, and wherein the simultaneous application of the pair of reference signals is enabled by the network (Paragraphs [0108] to [0111] UE capability; enable simultaneous uplink transmission).
11. Regarding claim 11, Deghel teaches
wherein capability information related to a number of reference signal candidate sets supportable is reported to a network, and
wherein a number of reference signals to be paired is based on the number of RS candidate (Paragraphs [0108] to [0111] UE capability; enable simultaneous uplink transmission).
12. Regarding claim 13, Deghel teaches an apparatus (Figures 3 and 9), comprising:
at least one transceiver; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one transceiver, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
transmit information for N reference signals for uplink reception (Figure 9, transmit first and second uplink configuration) and based on the N reference signals being grouped into M pairs of reference signals (Fig. 3 Paragraphs [0108] to [0111] and [0141] to [0143] pairs of uplink transmissions), perform the uplink reception by mapping a pair of reference signals to a transmission occasion, wherein N and M are integers, and M is less than N, wherein the M pairs of reference signals are grouped based on at least one of a type of configuration or indicated for a reference signal, an order in which a reference signal is configured or indicated, or an index related to a reference signal (Paragraphs [0108] to [0111] and [0141] to [0143] pairs of uplink transmissions/ M is less than N, simultaneous transmissions from two UE panels).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Deghel et al. (US 2025/0056540 A1) in view of Ghanbarinejad et al. (US 2024/0187080 A1).
13. Regarding claim 6, Deghel does not explicitly disclose,
wherein the M pairs of reference signals are grouped sequentially based on a reference signal corresponding to a lowest index among the plurality of reference signals.
Ghanbarinejad teaches wherein the M pairs of reference signals are grouped sequentially based on a reference signal corresponding to a lowest index among the plurality of reference signals (Paragraph [0106] preferred beam pairs; based on information associated with the resources corresponding to the indexes).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein the M pairs of reference signals are grouped sequentially based on a reference signal corresponding to a lowest index among the plurality of reference signals as taught by Ghanbarinejad in the system of Deghel for simultaneous transmissions see paragraph [0106] of Ghanbarinejad.
Claims 9 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deghel et al. (US 2025/0056540 A1) in view of Gao et al. (US 2024/0283616 A1).
14. Regarding claim 9, Deghel does not explicitly disclose,
wherein, based on a plurality of transmission occasions for the uplink transmission being allocated, the uplink transmission is performed according to an indication of a mapping relation between the M pairs of reference signals and the plurality of transmission occasions.
Gao teaches wherein, based on a plurality of transmission occasions for the uplink transmission being allocated, the uplink transmission is performed according to an indication of a mapping relation between the M pairs of reference signals and the plurality of transmission occasions (Paragraphs [0145] and [0157] cyclic mapping).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide wherein, based on a plurality of transmission occasions for the uplink transmission being allocated, the uplink transmission is performed according to an indication of a mapping relation between the M pairs of reference signals and the plurality of transmission occasions as taught by Gao in the system of Deghel for avoiding unnecessary beam switching see abstract of Gao.
15. Regarding claim 10, Deghel in view of Gao teaches
wherein the mapping relation corresponds to cyclic mapping or sequential mapping (Gao, Paragraphs [0145] and [0157] cyclic mapping).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIANE LEE LO whose telephone number is (571)270-1952. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 am - 5 pm.
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/DIANE L LO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466